Plain
by Soulreciever
Summary: At 20 yrs of age Hisoka has lived a productive life and made his family 'proud', what will the introduction of an empathic gift mean for this 'perfect' life? AU eventual Slash
1. Fear

Plain.

1.Fear.

T: Another fic written in order to challenge my imagination (and hopefully yours) a little! AU right from the word go, angst, random theories, OOC, slash in later chapters, potential for slow updates further down the line. I own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny and all the madness it incurs!!

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At twenty years of age Kurosaki Hisoka was a strong figurehead for the prestigious Kurosaki linage. He'd overcome the disadvantages of his slight stature, feminine appearance and gained influence within the corporate market, earning himself the nickname 'north wind' for his cool, no nonsense approach to business matters.

His father was, supposedly, proud of these achievements but, as the man had not yet informed him of this himself, he was doubtful that this was truly the case.

His mother would, whenever they met for tea, assure him that this was simply his father's way, that somewhere within the indifference Kurosaki Nagare cared for his son.

This was something he knew was not true, a lie that his mother told to keep herself happy and because she believed speaking it kept Hisoka happy also.

He never quite had the heart to tell her that this was not the case, that he knew how his father felt about him and that he'd long since given up on changing this fact, had long since given up on gaining anything other than cool indifference from the other.

"…soka…Hisoka?" The voice starts him back to the present and back to a face that is uncannily akin to his own.

It is a similarity caused by the genetic link between them for Minase Hijiri was his first cousin on his father's side.

"You haven't been listening to a word I've said, have you?" Hijiri enquires as he lets out a little breath of frustration.

"My mind was elsewhere."

"Are you actually admitting a weakness?"

"Don't tease, Hijiri." He remarks as he turns his attention back to his coffee.

His cousin pushes himself a little forwards on his seat, the movement enough to close a little of the divide that the table has placed between them and bring their faces to an equal level.

"You are right, Hisoka, I should not have teased you. Is there something that you wish to talk about?"

It has always been this way between them, the collar of his father's stringent upbringing causing him to place up fronts and the soft care of Hijiri's upbringing allowing him the patience to pull them away, to expose Hisoka's 'true' nature.

"Do you think that it is possible to know another's emotions?"

"Of course, through their posture or the inflection of their voice."

"Do you think it possible to simply be able to see someone once and know how they are feeling, to know such a thing even when there is a vast distance between you?"

His cousin tenses and, settling back into his chair, he enquires,

"Why are you asking this, Hisoka?"

"Recently I have been feeling emotions that are not my own…experiencing the pain of others as though I am the one hurting…"

"Hisoka…" Not a moment later Hijiri is at his side, a hand settling onto his shoulder in order to pull him into a firm hug. "How long has this been going on?" He enquires once he has relinquished his grip.

"A month…perhaps a little more."

"Damn your father for making you believe that you needed to keep such a thing to yourself, that doing as such is a show of how strong you are."

"Father had nothing to do with my choice. I was afraid…"

"That I would turn you aside? Hisoka, I would never…"

"I know and I am sorry that I allowed myself to believe otherwise." He responds as he leans a little into the other's side.

"It'll be fine, Hisoka, you'll see. Together we'll find a way to get you through this."

The certainty in his cousin's voice, combined with the brotherly affection that leaks from him in powerful waves, sooths away the remaining doubts in his mind and, smiling, he says,

"I believe you."

…………………………………………………………………………………

They had decided to walk a little together despite the fact that their destinations lie in opposing directions.

Hijiri is regaling him with a tale of a recent dram at his workplace, the wide hand gestures and mimicry of his employee's voices drawing laughter from him.

Suddenly a wave of shear terror blots out this sense of hilarity and he topples onto his knees.

Hijiri is at his side but an instant later, the concern washing off of the other making his sense of disillusionment all the worse.

"I'll be fine!" He remarks as he stumbles up onto his feet and begins to run.

Eventually he stumbles over an object in his path and, turning back, he is met with the blood stained pallor of an outstretched arm.

He gazes, numbly, at that arm and she to whom it is attached, takes in the full horror of the scene and forces back the bile that rises in his throat.

"Did you see what happened?" The question is unexpected for he had believed himself 'alone' and thus, despite the kindness laced into the words, he flinches.

An instant later he is gazing in violet eyes that brim with so many emotions that, despite his newly found 'gift' remaining tantalisingly out of reach.

"My name is Tsuzuki Asato, do you think you can tell me what it was that you saw?"

He manages only a violent shake of his head, before his body finally relents to the intense exhaustion that has been eating away at him since he left his cousin and he falls into unconsciousness.

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T: All loose ends should be tied up within the story but if there's something you really want to know now ask and I'll give you an answer! Also, while you're doing that, how about letting me know what you think so far? Next chapter either tomorrow or Wed depending on how busy housework makes me.


	2. Anger

2. Anger.

T: Warnings remain the same, so does the disclaimer.

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"…for rescuing him." Hijiri feels distracted, curious and a little aggravated, emotions that seep into his skin as unwanted things, their presence merely serving to intensify the headache that lingers at his temples.

Opening his eyes the barest of inches he finds his cousin lent slightly over his recumbent form, his attention fixed on the individual he had been conversing with. The fact that he can not feel anything of this other's emotions lays a suspicion of his identity in his heart and, rolling in their direction, he is greeted again with the unique amethyst eyes of Tsuzuki Asato.

"Welcome back," The elder man remarks, his voice filled with such a force of kindness that he can not but wonder why he can not feel this emotion.

"Where am I?" He enquires as he turns to again face his cousin.

"Tsuzuki-san helped me bring you back to my apartment…what happened Hisoka? One moment you were fine and the next…"

"I felt stifled and so I attempted to find somewhere to be alone…unfortunately all I found was that woman…" he trails as the memory of that discovery makes him feel again nauseous and, almost as though sensing this distress, Tsuzuki enquires,

"Do you think you could get him a glass of water, Minase-kun? I'd go myself…"

"I understand, Tsuzuki-san. I'll only be a few minutes, Hisoka."

It takes a moment for Hijiri's emotional imprint to dissipate from the room and it is only once it has done as such that he feels a little more 'himself'.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yes, thank you." He wishes to ask the other if he had sent Hijiri away because he understood, because he knew of his 'gift', wishes to ask also why, if the other is as lonely as his eyes would suggest, he has closed himself off, yet the words stifle in his throat as he feels a familiar crush of emotions heading in their direction.

The residual nausea, fear and curiosity snap from him as though they have never existed and, despite his 'visitor's' protestations, he forces himself up and out of the bed.

An instant later Kurosaki Nagare enters the room, his face void of emotions but his heart filled with a broil of anger and resentment.

"Tousama." He bows low; humbling himself despite the fact that he has long since been his father's equal and deliberately avoids eye contact with the other.

"I understand that you collapsed."

"That is correct, tousama."

"I expect you to train twice as hard this next week in payment for the stigma this show of weakness has placed onto the family name."

"As you wish, tousama.

"I understand that you aided Minase-kun in bringing my son here."

There has been no change in his father's tone, nor pause in breath and it takes all the control he has to squash the anger he feels for this fact, for the knowledge that he is equal to a stranger in his father's regard.

"That is correct. If you could just allow me a moment to talk to your son alone, Kurosaki-san…"

"My son is very busy and has little time to spend on idle chatter." His father retorts before saying, "Indeed he is already a minute late for an important board meeting, so if you will excuse us…"Trailing he gives a cursory bow of his head and then leaves the room, his body language making it clear that he expects his son to follow.

Offering Tsuzuki a more appropriate half bow he says, "Thank you for your help," before he follows on his father's heals.

……………………………………………………………………………….

"…best that you see my doctor." His mother concludes as she places her cup back onto the tatami.

It has been a week since he discovered the corpse, since he showed the small weakness that has been the indirect cause of the bruises peppering his skin, and he had believed the matter drawn to a natural conclusion. Thus it is with a hint of surprise in his voice that he enquires,

"Why do you say that, Kasama?"

"You collapsed, sweet, something that is not at all natural for one of your constitution. You also witnessed a terrible thing and it would do you well to discuss that fact."

"I am fine, kasama, both mentally and physically."

"I am certain that that is the case, Hisoka, but could you not indulge me this once?"

The faint tendril of her worry is as the softest reminder that she cares for him deeply, that he is treasured, and, smiling gently, he informs her,

"For your sake then, kasama, I shall go."

"The doctor's name is Muraki Kazutaka and you shall find him at this address." She informs him as she pulls a small slip of paper from her Obi and passes it into his care. "I shall tell him to expect you."

"Thank you, kasama."

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T: Again please ask if you are uncertain of anything! Next chapter Friday at the latest, until then review??


	3. Confusion

3. Confusion.

T: As promised here is the next chapter! Warnings remain the same with the addition of Muraki influencing things from here on in!! I fear that I can still claim no ownership over the series or the characters, the plot's mine though!

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The doctor's practice looks as little more than a middle class residence, only a simple golden plaque and the sectary that sits is the hallway as the only clear indication of its true purpose.

The young woman's attention fixes onto him almost instantly as he signs himself in, the heat of her desire an intensity that is, initially, flattering but that eventually begins to grate on his nerves. Thus it as is the greatest of relief's when the door to the doctor's 'inner sanctum' eventually opens and provides both the woman and himself a distraction.

The doctor looks as an angel, something that seems strange when paired along side the dark, fetid, nature of his emotions.

"You are Kurosaki Hisoka, are you not?" The other enquires, the gentle nature of his smile a further addition to this odd contradiction.

"That is correct."

"Rui has informed me of the basic details and so if you would just step inside…" The doctor all but purrs his mother's name and, his flesh breaking into goose pimples, he gains his feet, responds, "of course," then, keeping as wide as birth as possible from the other, steps past him into the room beyond.

He is thankful of the divide of the table between them and is desperate to end this meeting as swiftly as possible thus, once he is seated, he says,

"I have come here today simply to ease kasama's worries, Muraki-sensei."

"I understand, Kurosaki-kun and I shall keep this brief." The other glances a moment at a slip of paper on the desk and then enquires, "Could you describe the events leading up to your discovery of the body?"

"Certainly. I was walking back to the office when I was swept with a sudden wave of dizziness. I decided to find a seat but became disorientated enough that I lost my way, I then tripped over the body."

"Have you ever felt such a thing before?"

"No."

"It must have been a terrible sight to behold; the newspapers say that she was completely dismembered."

A flash of the woman's face, of the terror frozen there for time immemorial and then he is forcing his mind away from the thought.

He knows, for the sudden wave of satisfaction that catches him that the other had made so casual an enquiry to prompt such a reaction from him, to expose the weaker nature he kept hidden always from the world. It is a goad that sparks an anger in his heart and gives him courage enough to respond, "It was not too bad," In as deadpan a manner as possible.

"I understand that you are reluctant to share your thoughts with a stranger, Kurosaki-sun, but bottling away your emotions will cause you irrevocable harm."

"I assure you that I am not 'bottling away' my emotions, Muraki-Sensei, what does it matter to me if that woman is dead?" He puts a little of his father's force into the words and, smiling one of Nagare's insincere smiles, he says, "As it seems clear that this session will be of little benefit to me, I believe it best that I leave."

His hands have settles onto the door handle when the doctor says, "Wait a moment," and the world falls away.

…………………………………………………………………………….

He has fallen behind enough on his paperwork that he has little choice but to bring it to lunch with him.

"It's not like you to get so behind, Hisoka." His cousin remarks as he settles down at the table.

"I've not seemed to have the time recently."

"Most likely because you're spending every spare second with that quack."

"Muraki-sensei is not a quack and he's been helping me deal with the trauma that I experienced last month."

"Before you went to see him you didn't think there was a trauma…"

"I don't want to have this argument again, Hijiri."

There is a moment of tense silence and then his cousin enquires,

"Are the headaches getting worse?"

He wonders at the random nature of the enquiry and then realises that his right hand has crept up to massage at his temple. Understanding that he has been caught he grudgingly responds,

"They're all but relentless."

"I wish that I could simply take the pain for you, that I could understand why you are closing away even from me." Hijiri reaches out to grasp his hand, the touch forcing the other's concern into every inch of his mind.

Feeling altogether claustrophobic he snatches back his hand and flees into the open air.

He feels Hijiri on his tale and, turning he says, "I have no more want for you to pity me, Hijiri," before he again walks away from the other.

He feels his cousin's shock, feels the other's sense of betrayal as though it is his own and then a sharp agony overcomes him.

Turning again to face his cousin he is met with the sight of the other doubling over, the thick crimson of his blood spilling out from beneath the finger's clutched at his shoulder.

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T: Forgive the cliff-hanger! Next chapter will be up Monday morning, until then why not review??


	4. Courage

4. Courage.

T: warnings remain the same and I still own nothing other than the basic plot.

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Being in the hospital surrounded by so many conflicting emotions begins to wear on his patience and thus, though he desperately wishes to talk to his cousin, to make everything right again between them, he can manage only an hour in the place before he is overwhelmed by the desire to break free.

He takes himself up onto the buildings roof, this scant separation enough to give him a little distance from the emotions, yet keep him close enough that an orderly might be able to grab him should something truly terrible occur.

"You can control it, you know."

The other has made no sound and, turning to face him, he enquires, "What, precisely, are you, Tsuzuki-san?"

The enquiry had been made slightly in jest and yet the other reacts to it as though stung, the steal walls of his emotional defences dropping a moment to wash him in guilt and bitter loneliness, sensations that cut off completely as those defences again fall into place.

"I am a Shinigami."

It is a description he understands just barely and, wishing to learn more, he enquires,

"Is that why your emotions are all but lost to me?"

"No, they are 'lost' to you because I am holding them very close to my heart."

"Why?"

"It is safer that way." It is clear, simply for the tone of the other's voice, that he has no more want to discuss this matter, thus he enquires,

"Why are you here?"

"I needed to talk to your cousin about the attack and I had hoped that I might see you here, that we might also be able to, at last, talk to one another."

"I did not see that woman die, Tsuzuki-san, nor did I see Hijiri being attacked."

"You felt the emotions of all those involved though, is that not correct?"

"Your point being?"

"That you can describe to me the killer's most intimate psyche."

"I am not certain if I can recall such a thing, Tsuzuki-san, for it has been over a month since that time."

"I would ask that you try, Kurosaki-san."

He allows his mind to wonder back to the fuzzy recollection of the evening that he had discovered the body, forces himself to recall every nuance of emotion that he had felt during that time.

Slowly a vivid emotional picture blooms in his head and, choosing his words carefully, he says,

"The killer felt…wrong… for there was such darkness within him…a fierce burning need for vengeance."

"Have you felt such a thing since that time?"

"An instant before Hijiri was attacked, which means…"

"That the killer is also the one who attacked your cousin."

There is a moment of silence and then he asks,

"Why are the Shinigami pursuing that individual, Tsuzuki-san?"

"They have been living off of the lives of others, making themselves all but immortal by slaughtering innocents."

"Then why did they not kill Hijiri?"

"Because you were the one they had been targeting not your cousin."

"Because I became involved in that woman's death?"

"You saw that body because they wished you to, because they knew of your empathy and wished to draw you out."

"To what end?"

"That I can not tell you." There is frustration clear in the other's tone and, taking a calculated risk, he enquires,

"You have been chasing this killer for a long time, have you not?"

"Seven years."

"I am certain that, this time, you shall catch him." The response brings a smile at last to the other's lips, the thing captivating despite its fragility.

"Now that you are helping I am certain that shall prove the case."

"When did I say that I was going to help?" He enquires.

He had intended the words as little more than a gentle tease and yet the other responds to them with the serious statement of, "I understand that you lead a very busy life and that helping me would be more imposition than anything else…"

"Idiot, don't you know when you're being teased?" He cuts the other off with the brusque enquiry and for a moment the elder individual looks stunned by such a thing. Then, his face breaking into false tears, he responds,

"You're mean!"

He squashes the urge to retort back to this remark, choosing instead to 'rise above' this sudden childish turn and enquire,

"This makes us partners, correct?"

The other brightens at the sound of that word and, grasping hard onto his hand; he shakes it firmly before remarking,

"Of course! We've even shaken on it like they do in those big American movies."

"Idiot."

……………………………………………………………………………………

"Something has happened, something very good." The words startle him somewhat and, putting down his recently acquired magazine, he enquires,

"How long have you been awake, Hijiri?"

"A few minutes. So what's your good news?"

"I have no 'good news'."

"Hisoka, you're practically glowing."

"I think you'd do better to worry about yourself, Hijiri."

"I'm fine, all things considered."

"Did you see the person who did this?" he enquires after a moment of silence.

"Briefly."

"Do you think you could give an accurate description?"

"I could try, why do you ask?"

"Tsuzuki-san has been chasing after the person who attacked you for the longest of times and it would be the greatest of breakthroughs for him to know what the other actually looked like."

"Tsuzuki-san…" His cousin trails as he falls into contemplation and, a few moments later, remarks, "That's the reason you look so happy."

"What?"

"You've gone bright red!" Hijiri responds, laughter clear in his eyes and in his words.

He is attempting to think of some logical response for the blush reflex, attempting to think of a way to steer the conversation back into his control when Hijiri remarks,

"I had a feeling you'd see him again, that the two of you would become close."

Over the long years that he has spent with his cousin he has learned to trust to the other's feelings, has learned to view them as statements of facts rather than the blind guesses that Hijiri always claimed them. Thus the fact that Hijiri believes he shall be a positive influence on Tsuzuki's life gives him a comfort he does not understand, that makes little sense given the brief time that he has known the elder man.

He can not but wonder why it is that he feels already so very connected to Tsuzuki, why the desire to know the whole of the elder man is becoming an all consuming ache in his heart.

Can not but wonder why he feels, already, as though he loves the other without condition.

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T: Hijiri's intuition is a weaker form of Hisoka's empathy, the logic being that such things are probably genetic and that someone else in the Kurosaki line would have some form of gift. The other loose end here (that of Hisoka's swift infatuation) is one that should be tied up in the story so I'm not going to discuss it here! Feel free to ask questions, next chapter Wednesday. Review?


	5. Concern

5. Concern.

T: Warnings and disclaimer remain as they have been in previous chapters.

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"So is he with the police or someone more influential?" The question is a little random given the previous topic of conversation and he enquires,

"What are you talking about, Hijiri?"

"Tsuzuki-san, you said that he was hunting the man who attacked me, right? That means he's some form of policeman, correct?"

"He's a private detective." He feels the wave of shock this response causes and, smiling, he says, "I know it's a little hard to believe given what a child he is, but it's the truth."

"What's the truth?" Tsuzuki enquires as he bounds into the room.

"That you're a foolish individual who listens into other people's conversations." The other reacts in the expected manner, tearing spectacularly and remarking,

"Hisoka is so cruel," This a responds that elicits warm laughter from Hijiri and the remark of,

"You're so cute together!"

"Really?" Tsuzuki enquires, all traces of his previous mood vanished into smoke.

"Really!"

"Thank you, Minase-kun!" Tsuzuki remarks before he glomps onto his cousin's middle.

"If the two of you are quite done." He remarks, the brusque edge of his tone spurring an odd glee from his cousin and the enquiry of,

"Jealous?"

"No." He responds before enquiring, "You came here to so Hijiri for a reason, Tsuzuki-san, isn't that right?"

"Ah, of course." His mood sobering instantaneously the other releases his grip and then enquires, "What can you tell me of the one who attacked you yesterday, Hijiri-kun?"

"He was tall, I'd say perhaps and inch or two above your own height, Tsuzuki-san and very well dressed. He spoke to me as he walked away and I recall that he had a very soft voice."

"What of his face, Minase-kun?"

"I found it very hard to get a complete description and so I drew this for you," his cousin responds as he passes Tsuzuki the slip of paper that had, until that moment, been balanced on his chest.

Tsuzuki examines the features a long while and then enquires,

"Did you feel as though you had seen him anywhere before, or that he recalled someone else to you, Minase-kun?"

"Not at all."

"What of you, Kurosaki-san?"

"There is a little of Muraki-sensei about the mouth…"

"I knew that that doctor was nothing but bad news." Hijiri remarks.

"Such a small similarity means little, Hijiri, especially when Muraki-sensei has been so very kind to me."

"Kurosaki-san, might I have a little time with Minase-kun?" Tsuzuki enquires, the words, despite the kindness within them, filling him with suspicion and bringing him to respond with an enquiry of,

"Why?"

Tsuzuki leans over and, voice dipped to a whisper, he says,

"It's likely that he's keeping a little of his story back because it makes him loose a little face and he feels embarrassed to tell it in front of you."

"That's your true motivation for wanting me 'out of the way' is it?"

"Of course."

There is nothing other than sincerity in the other's tone and, his shoulders slumping, he says, "I have a meeting that I have to get to anyway," before he vacates his seat and heads for the doorway.

……………………………………………………………………………………

Tsuzuki's smile lessens the moment Hisoka steps from the room and his body tightens into a clearly agitated state,

"I am right about the doctor, aren't I?" He enquires when it becomes clear that the other has no intention of talking.

"Possibly. How long has Kurosaki-san known him?"

"Just over a month now."

"Did the doctor seek him out or was Kurosaki-san sent to him?"

"Hisoka's mother sent him to the doctor's practice."

"When did you see Kurosaki-san after that meeting and how did he seem to you?"

"I saw him at lunch the next day and he seemed distracted, something that was not usual and so I asked him what was bothering him,"

"To which he replied?"

"'I am thinking about what Muraki-sensei told me yesterday.'"

"Did you ask what it was that the doctor had said?"

"Yes and he told me that it was not my business to know, that it was a confidence between them."

"Is that the first that he has said such a thing to you?"

"Yes."

"That being the case it seems to me that the doctor is, indeed, the one I have been hunting." Tsuzuki runs a hand through his hair and then enquires, "You mentioned earlier that he said something to you as he walked away, what was it?"

"'Keep your distance'"

"I see." The other sighs and says, "It seems I truly am an idiot, Minase-kun. I had believed, you see, that you were attacked because you were mistaken for Kurosaki-san, yet if that were the case you would have been stabbed from the front rather than behind. Also I have been tracking this killer long enough now that I should have known better than to think him capable of such a childish mistake." The other pauses and then says, "You were attacked because you posed a clear threat to the killer's plans."

"Why not simply kill me and be done with it?"

"Kurosaki-san would have wised to avenge your death, would have thought of nothing other than that vengeance and thus the other's plans would have again been tarnished."

"What are these 'plans'?"

"This man uses hypnosis to bring his victims under his control, to twist their reality until it contains only the two of them and then he strikes."

"Then Hisoka is in danger?"

"Not yet, for he is still concerned over your welfare and over the welfare of his business…thinks still of matter unconnected to the doctor."

"Is there a way to break this hypnotism?"

"I believe you hold the answer to that particular question, Minase-kun,"

"Yet I can think of nothing…every time that I mention the doctor he puts his walls up and pushes me away."

"I am assured that, given time, you will find a solution."

"Yet time is already running short."

"That is why I am going to buy us a little more."

"How?"

"By going to visit this doctor myself."

"Isn't that putting yourself directly into harms way?"

The other smiles an odd smile and responds, "Don't worry about that," before enquiring, "Where can I find his practice?"

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T: Next update on Friday (hopefully) until then why not review??


	6. Desperation

6. Desperation.

T: Semi cliff-hanger for this chapter, but apart from this the warnings remain the same. I own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny and the fun caused by it!

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He is sat quietly amending budget forecasts when there is a gentle knock on the door.

Recognising the base edge of Hijiri's compassion mixed into the wash of emotions beyond the boor he shrugs way the irritation of being interrupted and says,

"Come it, Hijiri."

His cousin looks a little flustered and, sensing a subtly repressed concern flowing from the other, he enquires,

"What is wrong?"

The other starts, clearly surprised that he has failed to repress his emotions completely and, shifting his gaze to fix onto a spot just to his left, the other responds,

"Don't worry about it."

He wishes to push that matter further, wishes to understand why the other is closing away from him, yet, aware that Hijiri will give him no answer to such questions he asks instead,

"To what do owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I wanted to get the taste of the hospital food from my mouth but…"

"You hate to eat alone," he concludes, gracing the other with a gentle smile before he says, "Give me a moment and I'll be with you."

He has just pulled on his coat when his cousin buries his head into his shoulder blades, the contact increasing the strength of the other's distress in his mind and unsettling him enough that he enquires,

"How can I not worry when you are this distressed?"

"I am sorry, Hisoka, truly I am, it is just…" As the other trails a faint edge of anger creeps into his distress and frightened for the first time in the greatest of whiles, he enquires,

"What is this thing that you hesitate to tell me of even when keeping silent makes you so very angry?"

"Everything is going awry, Hisoka and its' my fault…if only I believed a little more in my own self or was a little more forceful…"

Never before has he heard such deftest words from his cousin and turning he pulls the other into a hard embrace before saying,

"Hijiri there is nothing you can not do, nothing that is beyond your reach."

"If that were true then I would have broken through his illusions already and Tsuzuki-san…" The other tenses in his arms, guilt he feels making it clear that he has said more than he had intended.

Dipping in order that he might look the other in the eye he enquires,

"What happened after I left yesterday? What has you so afraid for Tsuzuki's life?"

"We discussed the situation between the doctor and yourself a little further, then Tsuzuki-san asked me to tell him again of the one who attacked me. Through my words he realised that I had been attacked not, as he had initially believed, because I was mistaken for you, but rather because I was a threat."

"Explain what you mean by that, Hijiri."

"Tsuzuki-san said that the killed is a skilled hypnotist, that he twists his victim's minds until they think only of him. Tsuzuki-san believed the killed viewed the influence I had over you as detrimental to his cause and so gave me a little warning to stay away from you."

That he could have been manipulated in such a manner seems foolish to him and yet he knows that his cousin is being sincere and thus, rather than argue the point, he enquires,

"What happened then?"

"Tsuzuki-san found some form of lead in the information I gave him and decided to pursue it."

"In other words he's gone to talk to the murderer?"

"Yes."

"That idiot!"

Hijiri is surprised by this response and, breaking free at last from his grip he enquires,

"Don't you care that he's risking his life for your sake?"

"There is more to this than you understand, Hijiri."

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T: Small update gap in order that I can get back in a more comfortable place as far as a buffer goes so expect the next chapter Tuesday! Review?


	7. Pride

7. Pride.

T: I'm back! You'll be glad to know that updates should return to the normal pace now and that things remain as they were warning wise. I still own nothing other than the plot bunny and the madness it has induced.

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"There is more to this than you understand, Hijiri."

He is uncertain as to whether the words are truth, front or a layer of the doctor's elaborate illusion and it is with a great amount of trepidation that he enquires,

"Are you going to tell me what you mean by that?"

Hisoka seems to be considering something and then he enquires,

"Will you tell me who it is that you suspect?"

He has considered what the 'right words' are to bring Hisoka back to his true self, has all but driven himself mad searching for an answer and now, faced with his 'moment' he can do nothing other than remain silent.

Hisoka nods and, shrugging his coat back off, he responds,

"Then there is your answer."

For the barest of instants he could almost believe himself in a room with Nagare, a sensation that sends a chill up his spine and brings him to enquire,

"If I tell you will you listen?"

Hisoka tenses and his manner becoming again his own he enquires,

"It is Muraki-sensei is it not?"

He wonders if he should view such a deduction as a positive thing and, risking himself a little, he enquires,

"Is such a thing so terribly impossible, Hisoka? Is there something in the way he feels to you that contradicts how that killer felt?"

"The way Muraki-sensei feels…" The other trails and, the colour draining from his skin, he crumbles onto his knees.

"Hisoka!" He is pulling the other into his arms but a moment later, desperately ignoring how hot his cousin now feels to touch, the rasp in the others breath and the glossy look to his eyes, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," The response is to be expected of his cousin and, having no want to wound the other's precious pride, he remarks,

"You've been working yourself a little too hard it seems,"

"Indeed it does." The other responds before he buries himself a little into his touch and enquires, "Can I rest here a little while, Hijiri?"

Regarding his cousin's sleeping form he feels himself filled with anger, finds himself wishing desperately to be able to meek Muraki and hurt the other for all that he has done to the other.

…………………………………………………………………………………

This is a dream, he knows this because he can feel nothing beyond his own emotions and also because his younger self is present in the image.

The younger Hisoka is knelt at his mother's side, his head bowed and his back taut for the length of time in which he has had to hold such a position.

His father is knelt at the opposite end of the room, his posture giving an illusion of serenity that is destroyed only by the faint crease to one edge of his temple.

'…_expected of you given your future position as head of this family."_

He recognises those final words well, recognise well the formal instant where his childhood ceased and he begun to 'train' to become the next head of his family.

He had not thought on this moment for the greatest of whiles and he wonders at the dreams relevance, at the relevance of his being 'conscious' of the oddity of the dream, then the image skips forwards a little.

His father is stood now on his feet, one hand pressed to the screen door as he concludes,

'…_that you should meet.'_

His father pulls the door back then and Muraki steps over the threshold.

He watches the doctor bow politely to his father, watches him bend to kiss his mother's hand, and watches as his eyes fall onto his younger self.

'_He's a fine child, Nagare, almost as some porcelain doll.' _ His father smiles an odd smile and then enquires,

'_Could I have a moment alone with Muraki, Rui?'_

He watches his mother escort his younger self from the room and then the dream drifts away.

He had believed his first encounter with the doctor to have been that which he had had but a month previous and yet…

The shear strength of the dream, of the terror it invoked still within his heat, made him certain it was a memory rather than some odd fiction.

Yet if he had met the doctor all those long years ago why had the other treated him as a stranger when they had met again? Why had he felt as though they were meeting for the first time?

Each time that he stretched for answers he found only numb uncertainty and a relentless heat. This heat threatened to wipe away all that he was and yet he could not relent in his search for understanding.

His pride would not allow such a thing, after all.

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T: Next chapter Friday, until then why not review?


	8. Doubt

8. Doubt.

T: Warnings and disclaimer remains the same.

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"Where can I find the doctor's practice?"

The boy hesitates, a clear distress in his eyes and then responds,

"I never thought to ask…we could approach Hisoka but…"

"It is highly unlikely that he will give such information freely."

"Then there is no hope of saving him…no hope of pulling him back from the brink…"

"You can not give up, Minase-kun, for if you do he will die and that man will continue to exist, to take away all that is good in this world." He is letting his desperation get the better of him, this he knows simply by the rawer edge of his voice and yet, judging from the other's reaction, perhaps that is precisely what had been needed.

For, confidence clear now in his voice, the boy says,

"Then there is but one solution."

"Which is?"

"That you see my aunt, allow her to hear what her precious doctor has done to her son and what he plans to do, then ask her to tell him where to find that man."

"What of your uncle?" He enquires, the memory of that man's cool indifference towards his child making the words harder than was necessary.

Hijiri pulls another slip of blank paper from the small pile at his side and, rescuing a pencil from beneath his pillow, he begins to fill the page with words.

Once he is done he folds the slip neatly, scrawls a name onto the front and then passes it into his care.

"Give this to whoever greets you at the door, tell them it is from myself and then hopefully you should not have to see my uncle."

"Thank you, Minase-kun."

"There's nothing to thank me for, Tsuzuki-san. I should be coming with you to se my aunt and to face that doctor…should be assuring that no harm comes to you…as it is I'm stuck here until tomorrow morning and thus have all but proven useless."

"It is best that I see the doctor alone, as to your proving all but useless, that is not true. You have given me direction, Minase-kun, allowed me to hope that, this time, I shall stop that man." He smiles for the boy, wishing to discourage any further words of self hatred and then he enquires,

"Where do I find Kurosaki's home?"

…………………………………………………………………………………

The complex dominates the landscape before him, something that is a clear sign of the power and the egotism posed by those who had created it.

Faced with such a clear reminder of the task ahead of him he can not quite squash the sense of inadequacy that catches him.

A vivid mental image blossoms in his head of Hisoka as he had looked that moment, conviction and unconscious trust lined deep in his expressive eyes.

The boy was still little more than a stranger and yet, somehow, he knew that Hisoka was not one to hand trust over freely, something that made the words powerful and scattered his hesitancy.

He knocks and is greeted, but an instant later, with the stern, yet oddly inviting countenance of a butler.

"Yes?"

Bowing low he introduces himself and then says, "Minase Hijiri asked that I might assure this got into Kurosaki Rui's hands," as he passes over the note.

"If you would just wait there a moment, Tsuzuki-san," The butler remarks before he closes the door.

A few minutes later the door opens again and, dipping slightly, the butler says, "If you would care to follow me, Tsuzuki-san."

There is a sense of history thick in every inch of the space beyond the doorway, something he finds odd given the modern edge of both the decoration and the general layout of the space.

His destination proves to be a dimly lit room that, judging by the tatami coating the floor still, had once been used to perform the tea ceremony.

The butler stops just on the threshold and, motioning for him to wait, steps into the room.

There is a brief flurry of whispered discussion and then the butler announces his name.

Stepping over the threshold he is met with the delicate perfection that was Hisoka's mother and, an odd awe lining his words he says, "It is a pleasure to meet you," as he performs an elegant bow.

The woman smiles and says,

"It seems we have a little to discuss, Tsuzuki-san and so it would be better if you sat," as she gestures towards the space directly opposite herself.

"Of course," He settles himself into a kneeling position and, forcing the anticipatory tension from he, he waits for his hostess to begin their 'discussion'.

Dismissing the butler his hostess smoothes the lines of her skirt enquires, "How come you to know my nephew well enough for him to make such a request on your part?" then slides the note into his field of view.

He reads the note, as his hostess had intended through her actions and then responds, "I happened to help him with a small issue and he owed me for that fact tied us together long enough that we became friends."

"This 'issue' would be how one as lightly framed as my nephew could possibly lift anything even slightly heavier than himself, would it not?"

"That is correct."

There is a moment of silence and then his hostess enquires,

"According to the note there is a 'situation' that I need to be aware of, might you tell me what it is?"

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T: Da da! Small hiatus as I'm in London for the weekend, I'll be back Monday…potentially with a double release!


	9. Anguish

9. Anguish.

T: Cliff hanger warning but, apart from this, things remain as they were. I still own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny!

………………………………………………………………………………….

"According to the note there is a 'situation' that I need to be aware of, might you tell me what it is?"

He takes a moment to consider his answer and then he enquires,

"Are you aware of the killings that occurred in both Nagasaki and Kyoto?"

"I have heard a little through the gossip of the servants, but as the precise details…"

"The details are not important, all you need know is of the brutality of those attacks and of how severely they affected those involved."

"Something that is relevant to the 'situation'?"

"Yes, for the man who committed those atrocities, who harmed so many people, is now stalking your son."

Suddenly the reserved grace falls from about the woman and he is looking into the face of one desperately afraid of loosing their child.

"How do you know such a thing and why have you chosen to impart such knowledge to myself?"

"I have followed the killer since the first deaths at Nagasaki, learning of his methods and his motives and this is why I believe your son at risk. As to the reason that I approached you…"

"He is close to me, isn't he? The monster who would steal my son from me is someone I have allowed near, is that not so?"

"I fear that that is, indeed, the case."

The woman's breathe hitches and, without warning, she flies at him, her fists striking hard at his shoulders in a wild desperation he has seen far too many times.

"How can you be so very calm? Hisoka is all I have in the world, my precious child, if anything were to take him away…to make him less than he should be…"

Those words trouble him greatly and yet, for the moment, he thinks them little more than ravings of one deep in shock.

Thus, it is with the calmest of tones that he says,

"I am calm because it is the only way I can be, because otherwise this case would already have rent me apart."

"Yes, yes of course."

Standing she smoothes her skirt and, putting distance between them, she settles again into a kneeling position.

Once she seems again 'herself' he informs her,

"I have come to know your son well in the last month, Kurosaki-san and there is nothing I would like more than to be able to help him…"

"However to do such a thing you need my aid, is that not so?"

"I need you to tell me where I might find Muraki Kazutaka."

"Muraki-sensei…" What little colour had been in his hostess's face drains as her voice trails and, fear clear in her voice, she enquires, "Why do you need to see that man, Tsuzuki-san?"

"Do I need to answer that question, Kurosaki-san?"

"He is the one you suspect and yet…"

"Yet?"

"My husband has known him for years, considers him a brother in all but blood and even I…" Her fingers clench in her lap and, her voice rough, she says, "My husband once told me 'Hisoka's future will be assured by that man', words that always before this day had confused me and yet now…" A determination blossoms in his hostess's eyes and informing him, "The butler shall give you the address, Tsuzuki-san," she gains her feet and steps from the room.

He has want to follow her, to understand what has just transpired and yet he is all too aware that his time grows short, that every moment spent idling is a moment more of Hisoka's life. Thus, pushing his curiosity deep into his heart, he heads off in search of the butler.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Brushing a stray hair from his cousin's forehead he finds that the other's fever has dissipated and, though the other is still asleep, he feels somehow relieved by this 'progress'.

It is a sensation that scatters as the door clicks open and his aunt crosses the room, desperation in her posture that he has never seen before this day.

She pries Hisoka from him and, only once her son is nestled in his arms, does she enquire, "What happened, Hijiri?"

"I do not know, we were talking and then suddenly…"

"Did you push him about the doctor?" There is accusation clear in the enquiry and, feeling a little as a petulant child, he responds,

"There was no other way, he has to acknowledge what has happened to him otherwise…" he trails unable to finish the sentence and for a long while there is little other than difficult silence between them.

Then, a forceful conviction in her eyes, his aunt says,

"It is that detective that is the real criminal here, who thinks to corrupt Hisoka's mind and the doctor who is striving to help him break free."

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T: Next chapter wed avo, till then why not review?


	10. Betrayal

10. Betrayal.

T: Yet another cliff hanger (I apologise for this fact) yet other than this the warnings remain the same. I still own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny!

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"It is that detective that is the real criminal here, who thinks to corrupt Hisoka's mind and the doctor who is striving to help him break free."

The words a nothing more than a complex fiction, this he knows instinctively and, a brusque tone edging into his voice, he enquires,

"Why do you say such a thing?"

"Because it is the truth."

"One taken from the lips of your precious doctor, I've no doubt."

Without warning she strikes him hard with the back of her hand and then says,

"If I were your mother you would have long since learned no to use such a tone with your elders, or to be so very rude."

The childish feeling that his aunt's presence has instilled in him increases with these words and, his tone now a deliberate insolence, he responds,

"Then it is thankful that you are not my mother, for it means that I can do what I need to in order to make you see sense."

"You are so certain of yourself, Hijiri and yet I wonder if that confidence will remain when I tell you that it was my husband, rather than Muraki-sensei, who told me of that detective's true nature." The words are unexpected and, sensing the momentary shock that they insight in him, she enquires, "Do you see now how very ignorant you have been?"

He has wish to respond to this enquiry, to tell her how impossible it is that Tsuzuki could harm Hisoka, yet is stopped as she raises her hand in a clear halting gesture.

"My mind has been set, Hijiri and the time that you would waist in pointless argument could be better used to help my son."

That his cousin remains hale and strong is his highest priority and, offering out his hand, he says,

"I'll help you carry him to your car."

………………………………………………………………………………………

"…speak to him for a moment." He concludes, his tone neutral despite the shear sense of frustration he is feeling.

"And as I have told you, Tsuzuki-san, you have to have an appointment."

"Could you not just see if he is free…" High stress situations are not, precisely, his strong point and yet, given what is at stake, he knows that he has to give 100. Thus, mustering a 'heart warming' smile, he enquires, "Would it make a difference if I told you that I have come on Kurosaki Rui's request?"

The sectary allows a frustrated sigh escape from her lips and, reluctance clear in her every movement, she vacates her seat and heads for her employer's office. Knocking gently on the doorway the sectary pushes it inwards and, still highly uncertain, crosses over the threshold.

She appears again but a few moments later, a smile fixed onto her lips and thinly veiled resentment in her eyes.

"He'll gladly spare a moment of his time, Tsuzuki-san." She remarks before she settles again onto her chair.

Taking a breath he thanks the woman with as much kindness as he can muster and then, opening the doctor's door, steps into the 'unknown'.

The man has his head down as he steps into the room and for a moment he can see only silver hued hair and harsh, angular, shoulders.

"…excuse me…"

The doctor's head lifts and several things catch him, the first being that the other's right eye has been mutilated to a point that it no longer looks human, the next that, though the other's smile matches Hijiri's rendition, there is little else of 'his' killer about him and, finally, that there is something terribly familiar about the other's appearance.

"So you show yourself at last," The other remarks as he pushes himself up off his chair.

He stumbles to form a response, to gain back the confidence and the control he had felt but moments previous, yet, for some unknown reason, he can do little other than stand motionless.

"I have felt someone dogging my steps since Nagasaki and I find an odd sense of poetry in learning that my hunter is one in the same as the man I have chased after for over a decade."

He remains immobile and mute until the other sets a cool hand against his skin, then he manages to enquire,

"Who are you?"

"I am Muraki Kazutaka, grandson of Muraki Shouhei."

It is a name he recalls well, that brings with it memories of his past and, desperate to break free those recollections, to break free also from this man, he all but runs from the room.

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T: Next chapter Friday, until then why not review!!


	11. Comprehension

11. Comprehension.

T: Yet another cliff-hanger (at some point I'll stop them I promise) but apart from this warnings remain the same. I own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny and its baggage! Also, randomly, I wished to thank all those reading this beast and specifically Laustic and IchikoKitsuneKoumori for their constant reviews and support!!

Meghanthepagan: Say things like that and I'm likely to get a big head! Hope this chapter's worth the wait!!

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He has gone home in order to wash up and also so that he might sleep somewhere a little more comfortable than a waiting room chair.

He has just closed his eyes when there is a flurried knock upon his front door and, aware that it could well be news of his cousin's welfare, he pulls himself out of bed and heads for the doorway.

Upon opening it he is greeted with the sight of Tsuzuki in a state of disarray, his purple eyes dilated with fear and his skin drained of its colour. However, other that this, the other looks well and, relief swamping him, he pulls the man into a hug.

"I truly believed that I would never see you again…that that man would realise how much of a threat you are and 'dispose' of you."

"He will not hurt me." The words are numb of emotion and, concerned, he enquires,

"Is everything alright, Tsuzuki?"

"No." The confession seems to lift a little of the elder man's 'burden', for, emotion clear again in his voice, he says, "You do not need to worry about my problems, however."

There is a moment of silence as he waits for the other to ask the inevitable question and, once it becomes clear that such a thing will not happen on its own, he says,

"I went to Hisoka the moment that I left the hospital…I thought, perhaps, that he would 'come back to himself' if he knew that you had placed yourself into danger."

"Yet that did not prove the case." There is detachment clear again in the other's tone and, his patience frazzled by fatigue, he all but snaps an enquiry of,

"What happened between my aunt and yourself? What was said between you for her to accuse you of the doctor's crimes and for you to have separated yourself from this case and from Hisoka?"

"Why would she say such a thing, utter such a terrible lie?" The question is a subtle evasion of the one that he had posed and yet, for the moment, he chooses not push the other on this fact, to allow the elder man to move a little at his own pace. Thus he says, "Perhaps we are best discussing this inside," as he steps a little to one side.

Settling onto the western style sofa that dominates the living room Tsuzuki visibly relaxes and, sounding a little more 'himself' the other informs him,

"When I left the mansion she believed, as ourselves, that Muraki was responsible for 'changing' Hisoka. Indeed she had come to some understanding beyond that and had formed some purpose from that comprehension."

"Something must have occurred after that time…" He trails as he recalls something that his aunt had said to him and, anger heating his blood, he says, "She went to talk to my uncle, to discuss her 'revelation' with him and he turned her mind around, made her believe you the enemy."

"'…if anything were to make him less than he should be…'"

"Tsuzuki-san?"

"It is something your aunt said to me after I told her of what was happening, something that made me so very uncomfortable for reasons I could not, at the time, understand. Now, however…"

"Yes?"

The other runs a hand through his hair and, looking every inch the professional detective, he enquires,

"What if your uncle had known that Hisoka would develop an empathic gift, that he would become 'something other' than a normal human being? What if the individual who told your uncle this terrible truth offered a way to remove those powers from Hisoka? For the assurance that the Kurosaki name remains free of blemish I am assured that your uncle would have done almost anything, would even have lied to his wife about Muraki's true nature." The other allows him a moment to process this information, to understand what it is that he is pressing towards, then he says, "There are three very important questions that need to be answered if this theory is to hold strong. Why has Muraki suddenly chosen to lease the control he has had over Hisoka's powers? How much does Hisoka's father know of Muraki's true nature and, finally, what is it that Muraki has gained from all of this?"

"It seems you need to talk to my uncle." He is assured that he has kept his voice neutral and thus he is a little unsettled with Tsuzuki enquires,

"What is wrong, Hijiri?"

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T: Small update gap (I've gotten behind on my buffer again!) thus no chapter until wed…hopefully it'll be worth the wait! In the meantime review!!


	12. Suspicion

12. Suspicion. 

T: Adding an 'I'm sorry I can't quite see the plot for all this exposition' warning for this chapter and the next but, other than this, things remain as they are! I own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny that started this whole thing!

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"It seems you need to talk to my uncle." There is something in the way that the boy says those words that focuses his attention completely onto the other, that pushes aside the residual shock he had felt upon meeting the doctor and brings him back to 'himself'.

With clear eyes he registers the dark circles about Hijiri's eyes, the worry pinching at his temples and the guarded stance that the other's body has fallen into. Separately each of these things can be viewed as a signal of fatigue, yet together they can mean but one thing…his mind runs away with him as he draws this conclusion and, so very afraid that he has allowed yet another innocent life to slip away from him, he enquires,

"What is wrong, Hijiri?"

"I had to do something…had to stop this madness before Hisoka was taken from me…"

"So you went to him, attempted to find the 'right words'?"

"Yes."

"But something happened, didn't it?"

"It was working, Tsuzuki-san, it truly was and then, without warning, he collapsed."

"Was his skin hot to the touch?"

"Yes."

"Where are they keeping him?"

"The same hospital they took me after the attack, but my aunt will not let you see him."

"Then we shall have to make sure that she does not see me talking to him, won't we?"

Clearly confused by this sudden change in attitude, yet fearful of pushing for an explanation, the boy simply nods his head and responds,

"Of course we will."

…………………………………………………………………………………….

He settles onto a chair that Hijiri informs him is 'just around the corner' from Hisoka's room and, with a cheery wave, ushers the other off to distract his aunt. He waits until the other is out of sight and, turning 'invisible' follows on his heals.

The boy's posture has changed, just slightly and it is clear now that his previous bravado had been little more than front, that he is worried both for his cousin's welfare and at the prospect of having to lie to his aunt.

He is just considering the prospect of making himself known to the boy and suggesting that he approach Hisoka's mother directly when a door a little to their lift clicks open and the woman in question steps out into the hall.

For the instant before she sees her nephew she looks so very old, the ware of fatigue and worry causing this affect. As her eyes catch the boy an empty smile forms onto her lips and she becomes again an 'unmarred beauty'.

"I thought that you had gone home for a little while."

"I decided that I was better off here, both for my sake and for yours." Hijiri remarks, his posture and his voice filled again with false bravado.

"I was going to get myself a drink."

"Then allow me to accompany you, aunt, in order to provide us both with a little distraction."

"That sounds like a good idea." She responds as she offers her nephew her arm.

Hijiri takes the offer and then sneezes three times in order to signal that he has done as requested and to give a general idea of his location. He waits, patiently, while Hisoka's mother assures that her nephew is well and for the pair to leave his eyesight then, shifting again into visibility, he opens the doorway.

Hisoka has curled into a tight ball on the bed, this defensive gesture only helping to intensify the small spasmodic movements of his limbs.

Feeling a terrible sense of familiarity was over him he approaches the boy's side and, in a low voice, utters the other's name. The boy relaxes a little at the sound of his voice and, as he eases out of the ball, Tsuzuki can at last see how far his condition has fallen.

For there are small marks blooming onto the boy's skin, marks that shall grow and, once they have turned a vivid crimson hue, claim the other's life.

Once before he has viewed these marks at work, has viewed the agony they cause and has strained, valiantly, to eradicate them. It had been a battle that he had eventually lost and that had made him all the more determined to find the killer before he could mark another as such.

That he had failed to achieve this goal, that Hisoka should be taken because of this failure, fills him with an inconsolable guilt. Perhaps sensing this emotion Hisoka shifts slightly and one of the boy's pail hands comes to rest upon his knee.

For a great while everything stills, he afraid of disturbing this subconscious yearning for contact and Hisoka falling into more settled rest. Eventually the boy's eyes slide open and, his voice little more than a broken whisper, he enquires,

"Where am I Tsuzuki-san?"

"The hospital."

"I see." There is another moment of silence and then Hisoka says, "I have been a blind fool, Tsuzuki-san."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it is the truth…because I have been shown the 'reality' of my situation so many times and have closed my eyes to it…"

"You can not blame yourself for being pulled in by the doctor's illusions."

"It is not just to the doctor's illusions that I refer." There is a bitter note clear now in the hard rasp of the boy's voice and, attempting to sound as natural as possible, he enquires,

"Do you refer also to your father's illusions?"

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T: Next chap sat evening, till then how about a nice review??


	13. Acceptance

13. Acceptance. 

T: Slight angst increase and the 'exposition eclipses plot' warning still holds! Other than this things remain fairly stable and yes, I fear I still own little other than the plot device.

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He wakes from the muggy 'reality' of his mind to find himself on unfamiliar surroundings, the warmth of another clutched all but desperately in one hand and a void in his mind that tells quickly of the identity of his 'companion'.

There is so much he wishes to ask the other, so much that he has to say and yet, for the moment, he is able only to enquire,

"Where am I, Tsuzuki-san?" His voice sounds rough even to his ears and thus when the other responds by saying, "the hospital," he is littler surprised.

Once he has verbally acknowledge the other's reply he falls into silence, thinking through the conclusions he has drawn in his scattered dreams and attempting to find a manner to voice them that expresses both their severity and all that they have done to him.

Eventually he says, "I have been a blind fool, Tsuzuki-san," something that brings a frown to the elder man's face and the enquiry of,

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it is the truth…because I have been shown the 'reality' of him situation so many times and closed my eyes to it…"

"You can not blame yourself for being pulled in by the doctor's illusions."

That the other believes he is talking simply only of the doctor is logical and, for the briefest of instants, he wishes to keep things as they are…to forget everything that he has learned while unconscious.

It is an idea that he entertains for but a brief moment and then he says,

"It is not just to the doctor's illusions that I refer."

The other seems pleased for his admission of fault on Muraki's part and then, his face darkening, he enquires,

"Do you refer also to your father's illusions?"

"So you knew."

He feels Tsuzuki tense and realizes, in a faint rush of embarrassment, that he is holding still to the other's leg.

Feeling childish and a little ignorant he breaks the point of contact and then enquires,

"How long have you known that my father has played a part in this?"

"I only came to that conclusion but a few hours ago and I am uncertain still as to how deeply he is involved."

"While drifting in scattered unconsciousness I saw snatches of a life that had been lost to me, that the doctor had leached from my body. That life was full always of the doctor's shadow and the change he seemed always to bring to my parents. Kasan became a cowed creature, jumping at shadows and clutching to me as though she was afraid that I would shatter…tousama…" The ache in his heart stifles what remains of this sentence, of this bitter truth, something for which he feels infinitely foolish. For he had known his father's feeling toward him, had felt it as a constant weight in the back of his mind and yet still he had hoped that, perhaps someday, the other would view him as more than simply the successor of the bloodline.

"There is no shame in wishing for your family to care, for wishing to be loved by someone even when they have made it so very clear how impossible such a thing is." As the Shinigami his walls, either by intent or mistake, lower and, for the very first time, he is able to experience the entirety of the other's emotional landscape.

Caught in the restrictive embrace of the other's intense loneliness, guilt and bitter self hatred he is caught again by the desire to learn of the history being these emotions, of the scar's buried deep in the Shinigami's past.

For the moment, however, he has his own scars to expose and, clenching hard to the other's hand, he says,

"My father has cared only ever for the image of the family line, for the continued assurance that the Kurosaki bloodline remain as a strong, untainted, thing. Thus, from the youngest age I have been pushed to my limits, stretched out until I fitted his image of the 'ideal son'. There was, however, a part of me that he could not change, a part of me that was 'not human'."

"Your empathy?"

"My empathy sparked into life when I was eight years old and for a year it remained something that only I was aware of, an odd 'knack' for judging the mood of others. At the end of that year Muraki came into my life and suddenly my 'knack' became so very much more…became as leverage for the doctor to use against my father."

"You are saying that Muraki threatened him?"

"That is correct."

"But to what end, what is it that your father had that the other so desired?"

"I could not say specifically, no matter how easy Muraki found it to wipe memories he was careful to discuss 'business' out of earshot. If I had to hazard a guess, however, I would say that he used tousama for his connections and for the prestige that came with being a close associate of a member of my linage."

There is a moment of silence and then Tsuzuki enquires,

"Do you know why it is that he let your powers go? Why it is that he chose to involve you in this case and to allow to know of this involvement?"

"He did not lease my empathy by choice. You see he controlled it through hypnosis, implanting into the hidden depths of my mind walls so strong that my empathy could not break through. Yet as I have grown, as my mind has developed, these hidden impulses have faded, taking with them the walls they had created in my mind and the little control that he had had over my 'gift. As to the rest…" His mind fills with the odd fascination he had seen always in the doctor's eyes as the other looked at him and, shuddering slightly, he says, "I believe I became too much of a temptation for him to resist."

"I see."

For a moment he revels in the odd joy he feels at the other's disgust and then, desperate to move away form the matter of the doctor, he enquires,

"What is it like to be a Shinigami?"

"To be a Shinigami…to be a Shinigami is to be both loved and hated, for there are those who are trapped here in life against their will and those who wish so desperately to cling onto this world. There are days where I feel like I am helping and days when I can't help but think that everything would be better if I'd never become a Shinigami."

"Then it is a voluntary thing?"

"In a manner…those who die with regrets in this world are sent to be judged and those who are deemed worthy are offered a position as a Shinigami."

"Then why did you agree?" He regrets the question the moment it leaves his lips for, tensing, Tsuzuki releases his hand and, his emotional walls falling again into place, he says,

"I should go."

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T: Next chapter Monday avo, until then why not review?


	14. Care

14. Care.

T: This chapter was a nightmare for me to write as it had no want to co-operate with me; this is something that has no baring on the story but that I wanted to share! Warnings remain the same and I still own nothing you see here other than the plot bunny!

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After leaving the hospital he had gone on a long walk in order to clear his head and re-focus his mind.

He now understood the basic structure of the case yet there was so much lurking in the shadows that either contradicted his knowledge or added complex layers to the case that he had no hope of solving on his own.

"It seems you've made a mess of things yet again." The voice comes from just over his shoulder and, heart in his mouth, he says,

"You shouldn't creep up on people, Tatsumi-san," as he turns to face his companion.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings." The other counters, only the faint lifting of one corner of his mouth as sight that he is teasing.

"Why are you here?" He enquires after a moment of silence.

"Given the sudden increase in risk in this case Kanoe Kaichou thought is prudent for you to have 'back up'."

"In other words he sent you to spy on me." The accusation is fuelled more out of frustration than anything else and the hurt that words cause the sectary has him guiltily informing the other, "I'm sorry, Tatsumi-san, it's this case…"

"How about talking things through with me over a cup of tea?"

"There's this little bistro just around the corner that makes the most sublime lemon tart!"

"I do not think that you're budget will stretch to such an extravagant dessert." It is the traditional responds from the other and, pulling his face into a 'puppy dog' expression, he retorts with the traditional enquiry of,

"Could we not forgo the budget just this once?"

"No."

"Please, Tatsumi-san, for me!"

"Just this once then."

"Sank you, Tatsumi-san!"

…………………………………………………………………………………..

"…that's the extent of things."

There is an unreadable expression on the sectary's face and, concerned, he enquires, "Is something the matter?"

"It is nothing."

The words are, very clearly, a lie, yet over the years that he and Tatsumi have known one another they have adopted a 'no pushing' policy, thus he flashes the other a self conscious smile and enquires,

"Any thoughts?"

"You need to re-focus your investigation back onto the doctor and the murders; need to find out the other's motivation and, more importantly, if he is working alone."

He knows that Tatsumi is correct, knows that he needs to determine why Muraki has been using innocent lives to prolong his time on earth in the hopes that such information might hold the key to destroying the other and yet…

To learn such information he would either have to see the doctor again or placate Kurosaki Nagare's vanity for long enough that the other would tell him what he knew.

Neither are prospects that sit well with him, something that must register on his face for, kindness in his voice, Tatsumi enquires,

"Would it, perhaps, be better if I followed that particular line of questioning?"

"I think it might…" he trails, wishing to validate the statement and yet having no desire to lie further to the sectary.

"Then you may consider this case firmly in my hands and return to the Mefu safe in the knowledge that you did your best."

Tatsumi's face is fixed still in a kindly smile and yet he can not help but feel that the words are intended as some form of goad.

He knows that he should simply ignore this bate, that, though it might not be moral, it was the best decision for him to step away from the case.

Something, however, prompts him to inform Tatsumi,

"I'm not going anywhere," the conviction in his voice eliciting a smile from the other.

"Good, for no matter what it is about this case that has you so very frightened, you are not a coward, nor are you one to simply stand idle as an innocent is killed without purpose."

There is a long span of companionable silence after that, one Tatsumi eventually breaks with an enquiry of,

"Can I be of any help to you in this investigation?"

"You can talk to the doctor for me and, while you're doing as such, I shall talk to his 'accomplice',"

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T: Review? Next chapter wed.


	15. Faith

15. Faith.

T: Tsu has stolen the lime light for the moment, something I'm excusing because Hisoka is still quite sick and thus incapable of progressing the plot! Other than this the warnings remain the same and I still own nothing other than the plot bunny.

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Tsuzuki has, judging by the plates sprawled before him, been sat in the café for a while and, feeling guilty,

"I'm so sorry I'm late Tsuzuki-san, mama paid me a surprise visit in the early hours in order to assure herself that I was 'coping' after the attack and I got rather distracted."

"Don't worry about it!" The elder man responded before returning to his previous task of dissecting a piece of chocolate cake.

"So, how did you find yesterday? When we came back there were nurses fussing all over Hisoka and you'd vanished without a trace."

The elder mans smile tightens and, an uncomfortable edge in his voice, he responds,

"He woke up but a little after I got there and we talked a few things through."

"Then he is 'himself' again?"

"As much as can be expected given all that he has been through."

There is something the other is keeping, something dark and full of such terrible foreboding for the future. He has no want to discuss this thing, has no want for the other to speak of it and make it true, thus, false levity thick in his voice, he enquires,

"So what can I do for you?"

"You were right, before, about needing to speak your uncle, however…"

"However he is going to have no want to speak your especially after accusing you of harming his son."

"Precisely."

"If I requested a formal audience he'll come to see me but I doubt he'll stay once he sees you."

"He will stay, to run from me would be as naming me the stranger man and a slight to his precious pride."

"Give me a moment." He steps away from the table and, searching out his mobile, calls the Kurosaki household.

A random housemaid answers and has only to be told his name for the call to be passed onto his uncle's private line.

"Minase-kun, it has been a great while since last I talked to you."

"Something that I hoped we might amend this afternoon, uncle, if you had the time to spare me."

"I have been forced to shoulder my son's burdens while he is 'recovering' and thus, such a thing is not possible."

He wishes to shout at the other for talking in such a manner when Hisoka was…he stops the thought before it can go any further and, his voice full of false respect, he says.

"I understand well how precious your time is, uncle and I would not normally press you to interrupt your schedule. There is, however, a pressing business matter I had want to discuss with you."

As he had hoped the words flatter the others ego and he responds,

"I have a half hour free at two O'clock, I shall come to the Ivy and we can discuss your business concern then."

"Thank you very much, uncle." He clicks the phone shut, places it back into his pocket, then returns to his seat. "He'll be here in an hour."

"He said something to upset you." It is a statement rather than a question, something that is quick indication that he has not masked his anger as well as he had hoped and, thus exposed, he decides to loose the illusion of calm all together.

Thus it is with trembling fingers and rage clear in his every word that he says,

"He just talked about Hisoka's…illness…as though it was something he was putting on, a minor inconvenience that would sort itself out in a day or so!"

"Perhaps that is simply his way of dealing with the cacophony of emotions he must be going through at the moment."

"For that to be true he would have to actually feel something for someone other than himself."

There is a moment of silence in which Tsuzuki picks, idly, at his all but forgotten desert and then he enquires,

"Can we talk about something else for a while?"

"Such as?"

"Who you are…who Hisoka is…beyond the facades you present to the world."

"You certainly don't do anything by halves do you?"

"If you'd rather another topic…" The man looks now rather as a kicked puppy and, pity as his driving motivation, he responds,

"No, I don't mind talking about those things; you just surprised me a little."

"I like hearing about people, about the choices they made in life and how those choices have shaped them. Also…" The other trails then, the faintest trace of pink on his cheeks as indication that he has said more than he wanted and thus embarrassed himself.

Choosing to ignore this slip of the tongue he begins to weave for the elder man a picture of his childhood.

The other listens with a clear interest and an attentive ear, for more than once during the story the elder man interrupts in order to ask a question or confirm something in his mind.

As his narrative begins to touch on Hisoka the other focuses even more intently on his words, drinking in every little piece of information and storing it somewhere in his mind where he might quickly assess it.

Eventually his tale reaches the more recent, and thus rockier, portion of his life and the elder man eventually asks him to stop.

"I believe I know everything from that point, thank you, Hijiri." The words are casual enough and yet he can not quite forget the fervour of the other's curiosity, and, taking a small risk, he enquires,

"You care a great deal for my cousin, isn't that so?"

"Yes." There is neither hesitation nor shame in the others voice as he says this and, feeling a little more at ease, he says,

"He feels comfortable around you, you know. I don't know why that is, or why he looks at you sometimes with such wonder in his eyes, but it's the truth none the less." He allows the other to absorb this small morsel of information and then he says, "I've decided to place my faith in you precisely because Hisoka trusts you so implicitly. Have disregarded all the little things that are so very suspicious about you and turned a deaf ear to my aunt's suspicions. All I ask in return for this loyalty is that you never give my cousin a reason to hate you, that you collected in your presence."

"I promise that I shall do what I can, Minase-kun."

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T: On holiday at the weekend and thus expect the next chapter Monday. Until then, review??


	16. Dispassion

16. Dispassion.

T: Vague cliff-hanger but apart from this the warnings remain the same! I own nothing that you see here other than the plot bunny.

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At two O'clock precisely Kurosaki Nagare steeped into the upmarket café, any shock the other might have felt at his unexpected presence kept from his face and, after cordially greeting his nephew, he says, "It is better that we discuss your 'business matter' in one of the private rooms, Minase-kun," his voice a tempered neutrality that also gives the impression that the man had expected to see him here.

Only once they have settled into the plush, private, surroundings of one the café's suites does their guest remark,

"I am disappointed that you have fallen in with a man such as him, Minase-kun and that you have allowed him to manipulate you into bringing me here."

"There has been no 'manipulation' uncle and Tsuzuki-san is twice that man that you shall ever be."

Hisoka's father registers the insult with an unflinching face and, his tone still little more than muted dead pan, he enquires,

"You wish to ask me of Kazutaka?" The familiarity is a little surprising until he recalls Kurosaki Rui informing him, _'__My husband has known Muraki-sensei for years, considers him a brother in all but blood,'_

"I shall not betray him to one such as you." The other remarks, something in his voice eliciting the enraged response of,

"The man you are protecting is killing Hisoka," from Hijiri.

"My son died thirteen years ago when that abomination began to corrupt his mind."

The cool response goads Hijiri further and, his voice deceptively calm, he says,

"It should be you in that hospital bed."

Hisoka's father disregards the comment swiftly and, gaining his feet, says, "If that was all, I have a pressing engagement that I need to get to," as he heads for the doorway.

"How can you think him still as kin when he has threatened not only yourself but the also your precious reputation, how can you stand still at his side when he has forced you, time and time again, to make poor business decisions in order to benefit his own game plan?" He enquires.

The man stills but inches from the doorway and, a flicker of emotion present now in his tone, he enquires,

"Where have you heard such lies?"

"From the lips of your competitors and also from your son," he pauses, briefly, then says, "They whisper at your back, Kurosaki-san, name you 'weak' and 'inefficient', even whisper of the ease of stealing your precious empire from you."

"You may think me foolish, sir, but I am more than aware of what you are trying to achieve, more than aware that you are saying this in order to persuade me to tell you all that I know of Kazutaka."

"That my words are being used for that reason does not make them any less valid. While you stand beside him you are little more than another pawn in his game, though I suspect you have known this for a while now."

"What is it that you wish to know?" The words are bitter things and yet he believes them the sweetest thing he has ever heard.

"Why is he hurting these people and what is that he wanted from you?"

"He kills in order to give himself the time he needs to finish his 'lives work' and he is at my side in order that he can connect to people who might help him achieve that goal."

"What is his 'lives work'?"

"He never told me, however, I can direct you to a man who would know the answer to that question…a man who knew Kazutaka long before he became the man he is today."

"Why give me such information?"

"Because you are correct in saying that keeping Kazutaka in my life has tarnished my reputation and the reputation of the family line. Once you learn all there is to know of Kazutaka you shall destroy him, shall remove the complication he has placed in my life, and thus I offer my help to you."

The other's motives disgust him and yet, for the chance to 'put an end' to this case, he is willing to overlook such emotions, is willing to smile sweetly and enquire,

"Where can I find this man?"

………………………………………………………………………………..

Using the prestige contained still in his mother's maiden name he had convinced the doctor's sectary to shuffle the man's appointments and slot him in but a half hour later in the day.

He'd spent the time gathering what little information he could of the other, filling in the gaps that Tsuzuki's haphazard investigation style had left and gaining a sense of the individual who had so disarmed his friend.

As he steps across the threshold of the doctor's room he is met with a disconcerting double image of the other's appearance and the gentle enquiry of,

"Have you come to finish what the other one started?"

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T: Update tomorrow avo, until then why not review?


	17. Shock

17. Shock.

T: Warnings remain the same and I still own nothing other than the plot bunny!

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"Have you come to finish what the other one started?"

The words, as well as his inability to form a clear view of how the other looks, unsettles him greatly, something that pulls a languid smile onto the doctor's lips.

"It seems your mind is a little less easily influenced than others." He remarks as he pushes his hair away from his face, "You see normally I am able to trick the minds of my patience into seeing a kindly doctor with little more than a simple glance, yet your face tells me that you can not quite see this mask and thus…" Suddenly the man's image clarifies and he is seeing the silver haired individual that Tsuzuki had described to him.

"I had rather hoped that your amethyst eyed companion would come to see me and yet is seems that I became overly eager and pushed him too far."

He is tempted, briefly, to ask what it is that the doctor had pushed Tsuzuki on and yet, aware that such a thing has little baring on the case, he instead says,

"I apologise for the disappointment,"

The mans smile becomes an intense, dangerous, thing and he responds, "I am not disappointed," as he gains his feet, "No, not in the least."

………………………………………………………………………………

The nurses had made the mistake of leaving him unwatched for a brief moment and he had taken the opportunity to 'escape' from the confines of the hospital.

He makes his way to Hijiri's house, his progress considerably stunted by his body's stubborn refusal to work in the efficient manner than he is used to.

Eventually he reaches his destination and has just raised his hand to knock when the door swings open.

Hijiri all but freezes when he catches sight of him and then his cousin is pulling him into a hug so tight that he can feel his joints popping.

"I was so scared, so very scared and yet, if they've let you go…" The other trails as he registers his current attire and, his voice now dangerous, he enquires, "They did let you do, didn't they, Hisoka?"

"No."

"Then your condition?"

"Is getting progressively worse." This last comes from over Hijiri's shoulder and but a moment later he is looking again into the comforting violet of Tsuzuki's eyes.

For a moment he can registers only that the other has again lowered his emotional walls and then he absorbs the Shinigami's words and enquires,

"You have seen this illness before, have you not?"

"So that was why you were so keen to know Hisoka's symptoms!" Hijiri flushes the moment the words have left his mouth and says, "I'm sorry,"

"Don't worry, Minase-kun." Tsuzuki remarks before he says, "To answer your question, Kurosaki-kun, I have, indeed, seen this illness before, though this is only the second time that I have seen it at such an early stage in its progression." The tone of the other's words, as well as the despair that have overwhelmed his other emotions, tells of what 'stage' the other victims had been at…of what was in store for him… and, having no want to linger on such things, he enquires,

"What have you learned of the case since you came to see me?"

"We'll explain while you change into something a little more suitable." His cousin remarks as he drags him bodily into the house.

………………………………………………………………………………

Hijiri has kept the mood light during the train journey, deftly ignoring the bubbly cough that has decided to plague him and the frown that is etched all but permanently on Tsuzuki's face.

It is a levity that remains until they reach Kyoto station and Tsuzuki manages to catch him on his own.

"I wish to talk to you for a moment, Kurosaki-kun." He remarks, the serious note in voice reflected well in the emotions that drift off of him.

He can just see Hijiri returning from the information desk and, for the barest of instants, he thinks to use this as an excuse to avoid the conversation. However, to do such a thing would be as showing that he did not trust Tsuzuki and would undo the progress of their relationship.

Thus he gestures for Hijiri to get himself a drink of some sort from the station café and then enquires,

"What is it that you wish to talk of?"

"Your return to the hospital."

"What would going back achieve? They can do nothing for me there, that you understand already and I can not sit idle simply waiting for this thing to kill me."

"What if sitting idle increased the time that you had to live, meant that we had chance to find a cure? If you were to die without necessity…" The other's walls strengthen just slightly as he suppresses whatever it was that had been about to say and, decided to push things just a little further, he says,

"I begin to think that death would not be so terrible a thing, Tsuzuki-san."

The other tenses and for an instant he believes it too much, believes that Tsuzuki's selfless heart will prevent him from seeing the meaning hidden in the words. Then, oh so slowly, the other reaches to grasp his hand and, as the contact fills him with an external and internal warmth, Tsuzuki says,

"I begin to agree with that thought, Hisoka."

The unprompted familiarity sparks a rush of blood to his face and, shamed for being so very easily embarrassed, he remarks, "We can't idle here all day You've a case to solve and I've a cousin to placate," before he makes his way towards the station café.

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T: Next chapter Friday, until then why not review??


	18. Interigue

17. Intrigue.

T: A teeny lessoning of the angst for this chapter alone and a small increase in the fluff department, other than this, however, warnings remain the same and yes, I still own nothing other than the plot bunny.

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Their destination proves to be an old house that looks as though it should have been condemned years ago.

"I get the feeling that this is some form of trap." Tsuzuki remarks, his voice calm despite the scattered edge of fear that is leaching from him.

"There is a way we can be certain as to what our 'host' has in store."

His cousin tenses almost the moment that the words leave his moth and, concern streaming from him, he enquires,

"If simply having your empathy as a passive thing causes you pain, wouldn't doing something such as what you are thinking make it worse…deepen the hold that the illness has one you?"

"Perhaps and yet we can not turn away now that we have come so far, nor can we simply walk into the house unprepared."

"Hisoka is correct, Minase-kun, we can not risk entering the house blind, however, I believe I might be able to assure that he uses his empathy in a manner that shall not hurt him."

"Then please just do as you have to." He can feel his cousin's curiosity and allows himself a brief moment to wonder at why the other has pressed Tsuzuki no further on this matter, he then turns to the Shinigami and enquires,

"What should I do?"

"Breath deeply and concentrate for a moment on yourself, on who you are as an individual."

He does as the other has instructed, breathing as deeply as he is able and focusing intently on his own self, on the shape of Kurosaki Hisoka as he is in this very instant.

"Once you are content that you understand yourself focus on the feelings of those close to your own and single out those that you know to be Minase-kun's and my own. From that point you should not need my aid, for the residual emotions shall belong to our 'host'.

Following Tsuzuki's careful instructions he takes in the wary concern that seems as Hijiri's encompassing emotion and the complex knot of feeling that surround Tsuzuki. Once he understands that those emotions belong to his companions he is able also to understand that the desperate fear, longing, and scattered shame belong to their 'host'.

"He means us no personal harm, though I believe we should guard ourselves about him, for there is something in the shape of his feelings that disconcerts me."

The words seemingly the spur he had needed Tsuzuki straitens out of his semi slumped posture and, confidence in his every step, approaches their 'host's' doorway and knocks.

The gentleman who answers the door is dressed in an elegance that seems odd when paired against the ramshackle state of the house, the odd surprise this incompatibility elicits one that their 'host' has clearly seen before for, a liars smile on his lips, he says, "I'm house sitting," before enquiring, "How may I help?"

"Are you Miuba Oriya?"

"Indeed."

"I have come to talk to you of Muraki Kazutaka."

"You've been slightly faster than I believed you would be," Oriya remarks, the oddest of emotions edging the words.

"You knew that we were coming?" Tsuzuki enquires.

"I knew that he'd been taking stupid risks again, that it was likely someone would come to talk to me, however, I believed that it'd be another week at least before I saw anyone and I certainly wasn't expecting to see you."

"Will you tell me of what Muraki is doing, of why he is taking these 'stupid risks'." The enquiry is clear sign that Tsuzuki has no want to give into Oriya's gentle probe for information, something the other registers with a secret little smile, then he responds,

"He is killing people in order that he might live long enough to destroy Saki."

"Who, or what, is Saki?"

"Now that is a long story and, as you're on somewhat of a time limit, I'm sure you'll wish to wait for another time to hear it."

"Why do you assume that I am on a time limit?"

"I've recently learned that, given the right circumstances, a Shinigami is as mortal as us human beings, fascinating don't you think?"

"What have you done with Tatsumi-san?" Tsuzuki's rage is a disquieting thing to view for it is cold and speaks of actions that shall bare neither warning nor explanation.

Yet even presented with such a thing Oriya's smile remains fixed and, his voice retaining a cool indifference, he says, "If you go to the local University I'm certain you'll find the answer to that question."

He is more than aware of how fragile this indifference truly is, of how little it would take to make Oriya give away all that he is holding, yet he also knows that, for the moment at least, Tsuzuki is not in the right frame of mind for such things, has no thought for anything other than assuring the vitality of 'Tatsumi-san.'

Thus he allows the Shinigami to simply walk away from Oriya, allows the other his silence and waits, patiently, for Hijiri's curiosity to get the better of him. But two minuets after they have left Oriya this very thing occurs and his cousin enquires,

"What was that back there?"

"One of my work colleagues came to help me with the case yesterday; we talked things through and decided that he should talk to Muraki while I talked to Kurosaki-san." Tsuzuki responds, the words, as with his current emotive state, numb.

"Muraki is using this colleague to draw you out, yet why?" He enquires once it becomes clear that Hijiri will push no further.

"I am not yet completely certain and yet it is most likely has something to do with his wish to be immortal." The words are not quite true and yet Tsuzuki's voice, as well as the subtle edge in his emotions, warns that this is as far as the other will be pushed on the subject.

"What significance does the university have?" He enquires once the silent press of emotions becomes too much for him to stomach without distraction.

"It was where I met the person who would become the second victim in the murders that occurred here in Kyoto…the place where I also found his body all of a week later."

There is nothing he can say to this, nor that will take the bitter sting of guilt away from the Shinigami. Such knowledge does not, however, repress his desire to help the other and, feeling clumsy, he stretches to catch the other's hand in his own.

The contact brings with it warmth, gratitude and the suppressive weight of the other's more negative emotions, this a drawback that he is willing to weather for knowledge that the true smile which lights the other's lips a moment later has been elicited by the contact.

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T: Next chapter Sun. Review?


	19. Bravery

19. Bravery.

T: The next chapter shall be the last and thus there is a giant cliff-hanger at the end of this chapter and all the warnings click up a notch! I still own nothing that you see other than the plot bunny!

Aislynn Goldleaf: Thanks for the beta offer but it hardly seems worth it now! I actually am a native English speaker but I don't take offence at your belief otherwise because I've been told many times before how formal my writing style is! The formality is something that I put it down to years of (nice) conditioning both from my father and from an intensive writing course!

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The university looms as a dark shadow on the horizon, the rapidly dwindling sunlight intensifying this affect and adding to the sense of foreboding that lays thick in the air.

He is just contemplating the extreme difficulty of finding Muraki in the veritable maze of the campus without asking for Hisoka's help when the boy remarks,

"He's waiting for us," the hitch in his voice as the only clear indication of the fear that this notion inspires in him.

Looking again at the campus buildings he can just see a white form sheltered in the overhang that sits above the main entrance into the science block and, his anger dissipating any fear he might have felt at the thought of seeing the other again, he says,

"Wait here."

Predictably Hisoka tenses at the statement, any argument he might have voiced snuffed as his cousin remarks,

"It's for the best, Hisoka; this is Tsuzuki-san's fight, after all."

"It'll be all right, Hisoka," he makes certain not to promise anything, afraid still of how fragile such things can prove and yet, for the first tine in millennia, he is caught in the desire to do as such, to actually risk rather than stay the safer path.

He has want to tell the boy this, to tell him everything and yet this is not the time nor the place to do as such. Thus he simply walks towards Muraki's waiting form, concentrating hard on feeling confident in order not to cause Hisoka any more undue concern.

"I had worried that you would not come for his sake, that Bouya had become the only thing that you cared for in the world, yet here you are."

"Where is he?"

"I will show you,"

"How am I meant to trust you?"

"You can not and yet you have no other choice but to follow me if you wish your companion to live."

He knows the statement to be nothing other than truth and, pushing away his frustration, he smiles brightly and says,

"Lead the way."

……………………………………………………………………………

He watches Tsuzuki walk away with the doctor, watches the door click closed and, for the barest of seconds he stairs at the thing, at the barrier it presents, his mind numbed of all thought.

The choice to chase after Tsuzuki follows but an instant later and, pulling himself from the comforting circle of his cousin's arms, he says, "I am sorry," before he starts after the Shinigami.

He can feel, in the very back of his mind, his cousin debating whether to follow also and he sends a silent prayer for the other to remain where he is, safe from any direct harm. Whether by divine interaction or through Hijiri's sensibility, the other decides to remain stationary and, the matter of his cousin thus 'dealt' with he is able to concentrate his thoughts entirely to the matter of finding Tsuzuki.

Using the technique the Shinigami had shown him he is able to find the other's emotional imprint and thus follow his every step without the need of visual conformation.

Eventually Tsuzuki's emotional imprint stills and, but a few moments later, he comes before the doorway into the room that contains the Shinigami

Pressing his ear gently to the wood of the door he is able to hear Muraki conclude,

"…safe and sound."

"What will it take for you to let him go?" Tsuzuki enquires, the intensity of the fear he is feeling enough to pulse the emotion through his own heart and course adrenaline through his body.

"I simply wish you to stay here with me, nothing more and nothing less."

"Why?"

"Because of what you are…the opportunity you present."

The statement piques Tsuzuki's interest and yet, rather than push for further explanation, the Shinigami remarks,

"Then you may consider me 'yours'."

"Tsuzuki-san, I am not worth giving yourself over to this man, to the darkness within his heart." The voice belongs to a stranger and, his own curiosity piqued, he stretches out to 'glance' at the individual's emotive state.

So concentrated does he become on this task, on understanding the odd 'wall' of shadow that surrounds the strangers emotions, that he fails to sense the approach of Muraki until the very instant that the door clicks open and it becomes too late to flee, to do anything other than 'fall' into the doctor's mismatched eyes.

…………………………………………………………………………….

Muraki throws Hisoka into the centre of the room and, the other's eyes fixing onto his own he says,

"It seems the bond between you and this doll is stronger than I believed, Tsuzuki-san and yet the issue this presents is one easily amended."

Without warning a pentacle forms about Hisoka's form and, but an instant later, a pure white snake daemon is towering over the boy's crumpled form.

Adrenaline hot now in his veins he moves before Muraki can react, pulls Hisoka's limp form hard against his chest and then his world is consumed by white hot pain.

……………………………………………………………………………..

He comes back to himself as Tsuzuki presses against him and barely has time to register this embrace before a sharp shock of pain engulfs him.

"Though not quite enough to overload his healing abilities I believe that attack shall render him useless for the rest of this 'encounter.'" The instant that Muraki says those words he understands that the pain he is feeling is not his own, understands that Tsuzuki has been injured for his sake.

As he pulls the Shinigami tighter to him a tentative hand grips to his right arm and then, amid the chaos of his thoughts, he hears Tsuzuki's voice say,

'_Can you hear me? I know that talking to you like this shall pain you, yet, for the moment, I ask that you bare this discomfort.'_

'_Of course.'_

'_I wish to use your body for the shortest of times,'_

'_How?'_

'_Allow my emotions to synchronise with your own…become as yours…once we are as one I should be able to call one of Shikigami.'_

'_Will such a thing not tax your healing abilities further…be as risking true death?'_

'_True fully you shall be more at risk than I and yet…'_

'_You do not need to explain, I trust you, after all.'_

Tsuzuki's strength washes through him with frightening speed and, in what seems but the blink of an eye, he feels again 'himself' feels again strong and hale.

A madman's smile embellished on his lips he feels his finger's raise, feels an unfamiliar command falling on his tongue, then the room is overwhelmed with flames.

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T: Next chapter Wednesday (mean I know!) review?


	20. Release

20. Release.

T: Officially the last chapter as far as this story goes, though I may write a little side story in a few weeks (shall see how I feel!) big thanks to the constant reviewers (you know who you are) and to everyone who has lent an opinion on this fic! Warnings remain as they were in the last chapter and I own nothing that you see here other than the plot bunny.

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"…let go, Hijiri." His mother concludes, the concern lining her brows as she speaks the words tempering his response of,

"It's too soon, mama."

"Pet the entire building burned right to the ground."

"But there weren't any traces of human remains anywhere amid the wreckage."

"If your cousin were alive don't you think that he would have shown up by now? Even if it was just to let you know that he was fine?"

The calm logic of the words sits hard on his stomach and, setting his cup onto the table, he says, "I have to keep hoping, mama, it's all that I have left, after all," before he rises from the table and, politely excusing himself, steps from the café.

As he walks his way back to work he becomes lost again in the thought of what might have been, of what his cousin's life could have been if only…

Every night he dreams of the last instant that he had seen Hisoka alive, dreams that he had had that little extra courage to ask the other to stay, to question Hisoka's resolve for the very first time in his life.

He always wakes from such dreams full of desperate guilt at the knowledge that, had he been able to find such strength, his cousin would be still at his side.

Always the belief that the other might just live, that his cowardly manner had proven less harmful than it initially seemed, would wash away that guilt and give him strength.

Yet it was hard to maintain such a belief when his mother constantly undermined it, when Hisoka's parents had long since held the proper mourning rituals for their son and talked of him always in the past tense.

"You should watch where you are stepping." An all too familiar voice remarks as a gentle pair of hands manoeuvres him out of the path of an oncoming bicycle.

For an instant after his feet find safety again he simply stairs at Hisoka's smiling form and then he is crushing the other against his chest, breathing in his sent and searching desperately for the sound of his heart.

After a long moment doing as such he leases his grip and, his voice sounding frighteningly numb even to his own ears, he enquires,

"Why do you not have a heartbeat?"

"Let's talk about this elsewhere." His cousin responds as he takes a gentle hold of his wrist and all but drags him to the park.

There is a long instant of silence once they settle down on one of the parks benches, Hisoka seemingly searching for something and he very afraid of saying the wrong thing, of dispelling that seems more and more as a waking dream.

"Do you recall all of those lectures Tousama gave us on ancient rituals and beliefs when we were younger?" Hisoka eventually enquires.

In his minds eye blooms the image of his uncle bent over a dusty textbook, his mouth set in a thin line of concentration…of the excitement there always in Hisoka's eyes at the start of each and every lecture.

The wistful feeling the memory invokes in his heart elevates a little of discomfort he had been feeling, the smile hidden in the corners of Hisoka's mouth as a tell that this had been a little of the intent behind the question. There is, of course, something more to the question and, curious, he enquires,

"Yes, but why do you ask?"

"Because that knowledge shall make what I have to tell you a little easier to bear." There is regret clear in the words and, his heart becoming as lead, he enquires,

"You died in the fire, didn't you?"

"In a sense."

"Now is not the time to be oblique, Hisoka."

"Sorry." The apology is genuine enough, something his cousin gives himself a few moments to register before he says, "I died a week after the fire and yet if not for that incident I would be alive still."

He has no want to travel further down his macabre path and, in an attempt to steer the conversation onto another topic, he enquires,

"What are you now?"

"Shinigami."

It is a word he recognises well and that recognition prompts him to enquire,

"Why did you agree to such a thing?"

"It was the right choice for all concerned, for this way I can assure myself of your vitality, can assure that Muraki receives the punishment he deserves and also." He trails then and, though he has a want to push for a conclusion to that sentence, he chooses first to enquire,

"How can you be certain that Muraki has not already received his punishment?"

"The curse that he planted in my mind, that spread through my body as cancer, that eventually led to the 'illness' that killed me, lingers still, something that I have been assured means that he is still very much alive."

When can find no 'comforting' reply for this statement he enquires, "What was your final reason for becoming a Shinigami?" in the hope of distracting his cousin.

The question seems to have the desired result for; the happiest of smiles on his lips, Hisoka responds, "Him," as he points towards the ice-cream van that sat at the centre of the park.

Stood at the front of the queue, attempting to juggle two ice-creams and a rather moth eaten wallet, is Tsuzuki. The instant that he sees the elder man something in the confusion clicks into place and, smiling despite the fierce ache in his heart, he enquires,

"Is he a Shinigami also?"

"Yes he's…" this is all that his cousin is able to say before Tsuzuki is all but barrelling into his side.

"We've got to go." He remarks as he passes his cousin one of the ice-creams. "I'm sorry that we can't stay any longer, Hijiri, but Kaichou is going to be angry about this as it is."

"I understand…you have a job to do."

"I can't promise that I'll see you again, Hijiri, but I'll try my utmost." His cousin remarks before he pulls him into a tight hug.

The knowledge that this could quite possibly be the last he sees the other weighs heavy on his heart, this weight tempered by the knowledge that Hisoka is truly happy, that this happiness could well last an eternity.

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T: Review?


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